


Fleeting moments

by Aijja



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Feels, Fluff and Angst, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Prompt Fill, Rare Pairings, rexobi week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 18:26:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7398595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aijja/pseuds/Aijja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My fills for Rex/Obi week on Tumblr.  Cleaned up versions and unpublished extra bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fleeting moments

**Author's Note:**

> These are my fills for the RexObi week that was running in May. Life has been crazy and I finally had the energy to clean these up and write the last prompt. It's mostly useless fluff but they deserve to be happy!
> 
> Thank you (and also fuck you) to those who dragged me into this pairing. I think we all know who those are.
> 
> English isn't my native and I didn't have a beta. Sorry about the mistakes.
> 
> My tumblr is Aijja , come hang out with me?

**Fleeting**

Cody is young in actual years but so old in ways that really matter. He knows orders, blasters and his brothers. He knows fire and war, blood and sacrifice.What he doesn’t know what the glances he gets from the locals mean, the fleeting looks from the younger ones. Usually it’s followed by them quickly looking away, pretending that they hadn’t looked at him. A time or two there are giggles and waving hands.  He’s without his helmet, they all are,  which itself makes him feel weird and exposed but apparently covering your face is the biggest breach of customs on this planet. Ever. Though it does make communicating with his brothers easier. A quick and silent conversation later, composed entirely of facial expressions and shifts in posture,  Cody learns that everyone else is as baffled as he is. Thankfully, because it would have been embarrassing for his brothers know something that he doesn’t, when he’s older than them. Making a note to himself to ask his General about it later  he  squares his shoulders for now and follows the billowing cloak of his General. 

That night, after they have finished  running after assassins and would be assassins, and are finally in the transport back to where they belong, Cody brings it up.

“Sir. May I ask something?” General Kenobi stops studying the datapad in his hands and looks up at him.

“Of course. What do you want to know?” His General smiles encouragingly, though his eyes are tired. Cody wants to fidget, take back the words, because he has a feeling that this will be embarrassing, his General has enough on his mind without his questions. But he wants to know this,  has this  need to grow up and learn  more, and understanding other beings is a useful skill, as his General has shown multiple times.

“The people down there. They kept staring at me. And almost every time I looked at them they looked away. But they were not hostile. So, why?” he stands at parade rest, even though they have long since crossed the line of strict professionalism. On counterpoint to Cody’s professionalism his General starts laughing at him. Which really isn’t appreciated. Cody points this out.

“I’m sorry. I just forget sometimes,” Kenobi is still smirking at him but has thankfully stopped laughing, “Tell me, would you call these glances ‘fleeting’?” he asks, his eyes full of mirth. Cody sighs and thinks for a moment.

“I guess so. Yes. It would fit.”

“The point is to admire someone from afar and not get caught. They were simply admiring your fine facial structure and hair. If you noticed they all were rather bald ,” his General winks. Cody blushes and rubs at his face to hide the reaction.

“Why the glances then? Why not just state what you want?” He asks and relaxes a bit. The smile on his Generals face doesn’t disappear but it changes to somewhat more somber. 

“Sometimes you know that there is no chance to have what you want. And so fleeting, admiring gazes are the only thing you can have,” Kenobi says softly and lifts his datapad up again, “And if you didn’t have anything else to ask?” It’s clear dismissal and so Cody salutes and disappears in the direction of the mess.

Later when they re-unite with the 501st and he’s sitting with Rex and shooting shit with his brother their Generals walk past discussing this and that.  Rex gets this looks in his eyes when he looks at Cody’s general and this time Cody knows what his fleeting glance means. 

“Huh,” the sound escapes from him. Rex turns his eyes back to him and looks at him now, question on his face.

“What?” The tone is even, not a hint of embarrassment in it which might mean it’s nothing or that his cod is really good at playing it straight.

“Do you know what fleeting glances mean?” Cody asks and makes sure that he doesn’t smile. Yet.  Rex scoffs and shrugs.

“Fleeting is something that is quickly gone. It’s a abstract concept?”

“Apparently ‘fleeting glances’  tell a lot about what you want but think that can’t have,” he explains to his younger brother. Rex still looks baffled but Cody’s quick kick to his shin and nod towards the retreating backs of the Jedis do make Rex blush. 

“Shut up.” 

Cody laughs at him but starts to watch them both hoping that his poor brother isn’t alone. 

It turns out he isn’t.

 

 

**Uncomfortable**

Rex isn't what you'd call shy. None of his brothers were. There was just something about growing up with military surroundings  and then being thrown into active war that made you prioritize things. And getting naked and seeing others naked seemed to be pretty low on the things he should care about when his life was on the line so often.

The Jedi on the other hand seemed to be from the other end of the spectrum. Skywalker and Kenobi seem to wear the Jedi robes all the time as do all the other Jedi Rex comes across. When Tano joins them he has to rethink a few of his theories because the commander wears way too little of… everything! But at least she is able to take care of herself, which is good because all the damn Jedi refuse to wear the armor some of the men carry in front of them. 

Kenobi has a tendency to lose his cloak as often as Skywalker displaces his lightsaber. That had resulted into a rather complicated returning pattern among the clones. Both the 501st and 212th had a silent bet going on with each other about finding their jedis missing items and then returning them. If they found one belonging to their own general it  was sought to return as quietly and discreetly as possible to avoid ridicule from the others. If they found the other one it was considered a point and a chance to embarrass their brothers and their respective general.

So when Rex found a discarded robe after a skirmish with the seps he gathered the thing in his arms. Cody threw him a dirty look as Rex walked triumphantly across the camp towards Kenobi's tent. The thing was heavy and warm under the cloudless red sky and Rex understood why it had been left behind without apparent second thought.

“Sir? Can I come in?” He asks and waits. They've long since stopped announcing who is checking in since the Jedi always seem to know anyway.  He hears a muffled affirmative which makes him step in, a grin on his face, hidden behind his masks as it were. Once inside he stops and almost drops the cloak bundled in his arms. Kenobi is naked save for his pants and has somehow stretched himself into a knot on the floor that must be painful. It gives Rex a good view of a expanse of pale scarred back. As well as delightful ass pointed up into the air. Rex feels himself blush and grips the cloak tighter. The sight is making him feel itchy in his skin and uncertain in a way that he usually isn't. 

“Rex, did you have something important?” Kenobi sounds amused and apparently can still untangle himself from the floor on his own. Rex isn’t certain if he’s disappointed that he wasn’t needed for help or grateful that he wasn’t given a chance to make a fool out of himself.

“Uh. Yeah. I found your cloak, sir,” he did not just stammer. That would be ridiculous. But Kenobi is smiling at him with that twinkle in his eyes, that makes Rex’s stomach do flips, and which is usually the beginning of something truly spectacular and insane.  He’s also reaching for the cloak that Rex is still holding and apparently not letting go off either. 

“Am I making you uncomfortable? If you release my cloak I can cover myself and not be so indecent,” Kenobi is smiling at him gently, though there's still the twinkle in his eyes. At the next gentle tug Rex does release it and coughs. 

“Not uncomfortable, sir. Just surprised. Though you would be, uncomfortable that is, as I thought you don't want to be seen without your tunics.” Kenobi sniffs at the cloak, shrugs and then throws it on. Rex isn't sad to watch all the skin disappear. He isn’t.

“I don’t make a habit of dancing in the nude, no. But you’re a trusted, familiar person, I’m not uncomfortable when I’m with you,” Kenobi's smile is still there and maybe Rex should start making it a habit to be the one to bring his cloak back. 

“Anyway, thank you, Captain. I like you better than Anakin when he’s the one returning this. He tends to gloat a bit too much.” 

“Then I’ll be trying harder to try to snatch it before he finds it. But I’d advise to just not shrug it off and leaving it behind all the time then.” Rex throws a salute and exits before Kenobi can do more than gape at him. Cody ambushes him as soon as he’s a far enough from the tent.

“What did you do? Did you make my General uncomfortable with your leering?” he asks and Rex feels like punching him. It’s a common desire so it’s easy to ignore. Instead he takes his helmet off and winks.

“On the contrary. I got a confirm that I’m the opposite of uncomfortable.” Cody huffs a laugh.

“In your dreams.”

“Exactly. Aren’t you happy that I share a bunk right next to you?”

“Bastard. I’ll never be able to sleep again.”

Rex laughs.

 

 

**Coping**

They all have bad days, it comes with the territory of being bred for war, though it also means that when a brother has battle breakdown there’s help nearby. The war has been going on for so long that the number of times Rex has been part of a cuddle pile must be in the dozens if not yet a hundred. But sometimes cuddling with his brothers isn’t what he needs. There are nights where he can’t sleep when he’s supposed to. When he has too much restless energy left over to shut his eyes and lie still. He has heard that volunteers in the GAR have a habit of getting drunk and screwing around on their leave days. To Rex that does seem like a reasonable way to spend excess energy, unfortunately to clones it’s not a possible outlet. But he has found a really good one instead. 

That’s why when it’s night cycle after a brutal week of being thrown into transport for almost 30 hours with his General and the rest of a small hit team that he had been with, doing an emergency hit mission for the chancellor, followed by another 30 hours in close quarters to get back to the rest of the squad, Rex slips between the hallways in his blacks, nodding to his brothers still on duty until he gets to the large walled off area next to the hangar. It’s technically reserved for flight crews maintenance work but in actuality is mostly used as a training and exercise area for the troops. This time of the cycle of the ship it’s almost empty, which is surprise considering that the 212th is mostly on call to duty even if Rex’s own squad isn’t. Suddenly he sees movement near corner of the area and realises he’s not alone after all. Kenobi is near the back, as far out of the way as he could be, doing slow moving set of a kata Rex doesn’t recognize. Even though the rhythm and speed wasn’t what Rex usually would consider a strenuous activity  there is sweat on the general’s brow, dampening his hair.  Rex briefly entertains the notion of sitting idly in the corner and just watching the show but the restlessness is still in his veins so Rex kicks of his boots and starts running. 

Rex keeps his eyes forward as he runs, though from the corner of his eyes he can spot Kenobi still doing his thing in the same place he was before. After a while he loses track of time and just keeps running, until there’s sweat on his face and making his shirt stick to his skin, breathing heavy and loud in the quiet and echo of the huge space. Still he's not anywhere  near the end of his endurance when there's a hand on his shoulder and Rex reacts purely from muscle memory. He’s halfway through the over the shoulder throw when the throw is countered and Rex finds himself blocking incoming fists, before jumping backwards and away from the sudden attack. He brings his own fists up, balances on the balls on his feet ready to take on his attacker and finds Kenobi grinning at him. 

“What the fuck, sir?” Rex asks, letting his guard down which proves to be a mistake as Cody's General throws a quick jab towards his face. 

“Running is a boring way to get rid of excess energy.” Is the only answer  Rex gets before having to dodge and deflect more flying fists. This brings a huge, ferocious grin on his face and the spar commences in full. 

This is the kind of fight that Rex excels at,  finds the most exhilarating. That has him grinning and laughing even as he's beaten and thrown and finally pinned to the floor with a grinning Jedi on top of him. Rex breathes hard and Kenobi is really very close to his face and smiling so beautifully that Rex feels his breath hitch and not because of the exercise either. He wonders how kissing would feel with the beard and if he would be court martialed for it. Then as suddenly as the thing had started the Jedi has let go of him and is walking away fast. 

“Thank you Captain for the spar and hope you have a better night,” Kenobi says and is gone. Rex lies on the floor and gets his breath back under control. A quick rinse should be in order but he can't bother getting up for  the floor just yet. Later when he finally gets in his bunk he falls asleep with a last bit of wondering if Kenobi, Obi-Wan, would be up to sparring again later. And maybe some ‘sparring’ as well, because his presence seems to be the perfect coping method for Rex’s restlessness. 

 

 

**Exhaustion**

There's blood on his hands, covering his arms up to his elbows. He shivers and pulls on his robe, hiding them from sight.

There’s buzzing in his ears, blasters firing, his men yelling, explosions all around him. He covers his ears to block out the sound of the dying.

All he can see is the charred pieces of his men around him, the result of his failure and in desperation closes his eyes. pushes his fists into his eyes to block the sight. This is a bad idea because:

The smell of the charred flesh, the blood on his hands makes him feel sick. He gags but nothing comes. He’s not eaten anything substantial in days. The foul feeling in the bit of his stomach remains and he curls on himself, breathing deeply, trying to get his bearings back.

He’s cold and shivering, tears in the corners of his eyes. He’s alone in his quarters but still he can not let go. But he’s so tired. So tired of everything.

There are warm arms around him, a warm chest pressing against his back, a soothing voice in his ear.

“I’ve got you. It’s okay,” the warm, soft voice says. Obi-wan’s breath hitches and he clings to the  arms around him. Still he can’t let go.

“Let’s go. I’ll help you out of the filthy clothes,” the voice says, all gentle. Obi-Wan stands and with the help of the gentle hands strips himself to his undergarments and then is quietly guided to his bunk.

“Just sleep, I’ll guard your back,” the voice whispers and wraps Obi-Wan in a warm embrace and then into a bunch of blankets. And finally, Obi-Wan sleeps.

Hours later he wakes up to Rex’s gentle snoring and peaceful looking face. Obi-Wan smiles and kisses his Captain, who smiles back to him in his sleep. As a first kiss it’s enough.

 

 

 

 

**Reminder**

The bar is filled with music and atmosphere but thankfully it’s not overcrowded  and it more of a pub than a proper bar. It could be, should be, called a hipster place but then again it kind of went with the theme of the evening and really, Ben hadn't expected anything less from his friend. The bastard. He took another sip of the beer, that was apparently locally brewed and unique according to the bartender who leered at him at every opportunity. To him all beer tasted the same. Terrible. But Garen had bought it to him and  it had been that or wine and Ben really didn't fancy spending the next morning with a headache, or worse, puking out his guts. As he sipped the beer and watched the pitiful excuse of a dance floor with a smirk on his face he cast a wistful thought back to England and the hard cider that had been everywhere. He would pay an obscene amount for a drink if he only could get his hands on some right now. Even Strongbow could do. He sighed and glared at his beer. Would it be rude to just chuck the thing at Garen? 

“If that's not to your taste I could buy you something better?” And here came another smooth talker. How in the hell did Garen manage to drag him into this again? Right, birthday. 

“Your lines are as tired as your face,  so fuck off,” Ben threw back before even looking at the guy. When he did he kind of regretted the snapped reply. The man was gorgeous with blond hair, brown skin and dressed in tight fit blue t-shirt and black jeans. All in all if Ben had seen the guy in a coffee shop he might have given him a look. Or two. 

“Aw, shit. I'm sorry. My brother is a jerk and I lost a bet. So I  had to talk to you but I'll go now. Have a nice night,” the man looked awkwardly at him starting to turn away.  Ben ran quick risk assessment in his head. Speaking to someone would probably get others off of trying to flirt with him and Garen wouldn't mock him so much. Plus the man had made clear that he would piss off if he didn’t want to talk to him anymore. 

“No, wait. I'm sorry, stay and keep me company but keep the cheesy pick up lines to yourself, okay?” The man makes a full turn on his heels and grins when he sits down. Ben has the feeling that this encounter somehow went exactly like it had been planned. 

“I promise to not use any of them. I just didn’t think of anything else to say to you. I’m Rex,” he offers his hand, while cradling his beer in a loose grip.

“Ben. Nice to meet you. So… What bet did you lose?” Ben shakes the hand noting the rough skin and calluses. The grip is strong and suits Rex who is, while not bulking out of his tight shirt, certainly stretching it out nicely. 

“It was stupid,” he clearly tries to play it off but when Ben just stares at him he deigns to continue, looking at his beer and fidgeting a little on the bar stool. ”So my brother, he’s the asshole wearing the white and orange shirt over there, and I are kinda competitive. So we had a few drinks with a game of  fifa. And then we had a few more drinks and started making bets. I lost because Cody is a cheating bastard and he ordered me to get laid. Hence this place.” He makes a sweeping gesture at the place a slight flush spreading across Rex’s nose. It’s adorable. 

“So you think I’m easy?” he asks putting all the snobbishness he can muster in his voice, playing up on his accent. It works miracles and the blush spreads, while Rex shakes his head in adamant disagreement. Ben is starting to have fun with screwing with this guy. Garen’s fault for leaving him alone on singles night.

“That’s not I meant! I just had to speak to someone so that the terms of the bet are met. It’s fine that I don’t have a chance of having sex with you, I’ll just deal with Cody’s ridicule for a while. I just wanted to chat with you ‘cause you looked.. well..” At this he trails off and rakes his eyes over Ben. He suppresses the urge to shiver and smiles instead.

“Why do you think you have no chance with me?” he asks, taking a sip of his beer. It’s still disgusting and starting to warm up, making the taste even more offensive.

“Just looking at you makes me feel out of my league. I’m just a lowly cop and you look like you are a successful journalist or some shit like that.” Rex drains half of his drink and Ben feels a bit sorry for him. 

“Actually I’m a student at this point. International relations and some other stuff. Not that interesting really.” Ben shrugs and put his beer away to lean against the bar top and look at Rex closer.

“And I think being a Cop is very important and attractive job. Plus with the way you look I bet you could have had your pick out of everyone this night.” The compliments seem to do their job and the ensuing grin is beautiful to watch.

“So what do I look like?” The question is asked in a lower, huskier voice and Rex leans closer, taking a swig from his bottle. 

“Like you could lift me up effortlessly and fuck me against a wall,” he deadpans and watches at the sputtering man, thankful that none of the beer landed on him.

“You can’t just say things like that. Jesus..” Rex coughs and deposits his drink far away from them. Ben grins.

“Why not? That was you goal wasn’t it? To get laid?” he asks all grinning face and mischievous eyes.

“Well, yeah, but with you I could maybe take you on a date first? Don’t want to just make this a drunken night between the sheets.” Ben reaches a hand out and grips his knee. 

“That’s sweet but I’m not that drunk. I’ve had half a beer and a finger of whiskey an hour ago. So while I’m up for a proper date you don’t have to worry about taking advantage of me of anything like that.” He lets his thumb rub against the warm leg and wonders briefly at the unexpected direction this evening has taken. Rex brushes his fingers against his cheek and chuckles.

“You may not be but I’m drunk. Had to get liquid courage to finally talk to you.” he admits looking slightly ashamed of himself but continues to pet his hair. 

“Finally? I’ve been at this place an hour at most.” 

“Yeah but you run past our house every other day and it would have been creepy talking to you then so when I saw you here I had to do something about it,” Rex admits and lets his hand fall on top the counter next to Ben’s elbow. Ben doesn’t know if he should be flattered, amused or concerned. He settles on humor.

“So, you are a creepy stalker on your time off nice to know. What else do you do when not working?” he asks diffusing the situation. Rex smiles gratefully and launches into a tale of  his hobbies, that include games and football and his brother who’s a fireman and sharing a house with. Ben talks about his own situation, about living with Garen while finishing his decree here abroad. At some point they get more drinks but suddenly talking is more important than drinking and the evening is spent with conversation and slight touches in a slight buzz. When the evening starts to get rowdy Rex’s brother pops up, drunkenly demanding greasy food and a ride to home. Rex looks ready to murder his brother so Ben leans closer and kisses the corner of his mouth. He tastes like salted nuts and warm beer.

“ Give me your phone and I’ll call you a cab and put my number in,” he slips from his tool and ignores Cody who’s trying to wheedle the bartender for one more drink. Rex looks dazed fishing his phone out and handing to him. Feeling light Ben programs the number in and calls a cab while snickering at the pair of brothers who have almost resorted to wrestling as they are arguing about the evening, Ben, and what they’re going to eat. Finally Rex looks triumphantly and starts to drag his brother away while Ben trails behind them. Outside the weather is warm and Garen is standing with a smoke in his hand and a girl under his arm. 

“So, call me?” Ben asks while stepping closer to Rex, ignoring Cody who looks at them as if  they’re a live soap opera show. Rex nods then wraps his arms around him.

“I’ll text you in the morning. Have a nice night,” he whispers in his ear, making the strands of hair move and tickle. As he’s retreating Ben slips his hands behind his neck, drawing him in for a long kiss. If so inclined he’d say his toes curled up and the bottom of his stomach dropped out. When they withdraw Rex looks dazed.

“That’s a reminder,” Ben whispers and pulls away watching. The smile on Rex’s face is huge as he licks his lips.

“I wouldn’t have forgotten you anyway, no matter what.”

  
  
  



End file.
